Archive for the television Category

Chores this morning included cutting the top section of an old couch into what I hope are acceptable pieces to be collected by the waste management service. I think it will go. Cross your fingers and I’ll cross mine.

This is a bit of putting off the inevitable. Someday soon I will have to call a junk man, a guy with some muscle and a truck, not too expensive, to haul away our collection of outdated electronic machines.

TVs used to be so big and heavy. Computer parts, too.

Dorm refrigerators will die if you stab their cooling line accidentally while in a cleaning frenzy. It’s bad.

There is coolness in the morning air and if you look closely you will see leaves turning colors. Autumn is slowly slipping in.

The weather channels have Redding in the high 90s for all of next week but that can change.

Looking at these photos from November 2009 let me cheat a bit on getting a bit of that fall feeling.

Marla in her grand Afro fright wig. Scaredy Kat freaking in my old work space.

Pumpkin muffins are a real good bet. Can you smell them, warm and fresh from the oven?

We must wait a few more weeks.

Our black inanimate dog is now sporting the grand afro. He looks great.

Most of yesterday was spent rearranging the living room and the attached work space.

Resisted televisuals in the living room for years but no more. I love big screens and I can feed it all from my computer. Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu. I am a documentary hog. I love learning about all kinds of stuff. Kinda semi-heavenly.

Inspired by Egon Scheile’s women I decided to see if I could make something in my simple cloth doll format.

It is pleasurable to make the faces in a new way — Prismacolor pencil and permanent marker around the eyes, cloth lips hand stitched into place and slightly embellished with embroidery thread. The hair is in sort of block form, just shapes with tendrils, to represent and up do.

They are dressed in Fin de Siecle under garments. I’m working on getting them to look right having scored lots of nice materials.

I think the underwear will be most successful in all white, off white. For this first try I used this pale brick color for the top but it’s cut and color are too modern. I need to keep them simple and yet sort of voluminous.

The women are the project I do in between Etsy orders of Donut andCurly Star pillows.

I’m making three curly stars this weekend. I will get back to the women later. I also have biz taxes due soon. Paperwork and doctors appointments and errands . . .

I managed to make a blonde head that is pleasingly Mae-West like.

I am working on a series of girls for the DarcyArts shop. A redhead is next. She’ll have green eyes.

I gave the blonde lavender eye shadow and a little purple star tattoo high up on her cheek.

And, by the way, LA Ink starts next Thursday. Will it be frustration or fun?

While browsing Netflix Saturday I realized they have a huge selection of good old film noir available for instant view. Frank and I began watching them that afternoon.

One of the things Frank really misses from our shunned cable usage is Turner Classic Movies. Both of us grew up on Hollywood’s classic black and white films. We had become aware of their absence.

I Wake Up Screaming was the best of the two we watched on our kick-off Noir film day. I fell in love with the strange, beautiful energy of Laird Cregar.

He was big — 6′ 4″ — beautiful and gay. Sadly, he died young trying to lose too much of his ever-present and generous weight.

I think it’s fair to say his presence was mesmerizing. He made a compelling dark character. He was both good and bad in the aforementioned film noir, ultimately, a sympathetic character, at least, in my eyes.

Look at his eyes in this still from his last film Hangover Square. He had been punishing his body with radical dieting, amphetamines, etc. He died before the film was released following a weight-loss related surgery.

Laird plays a Jack the Ripper-like character in The Lodger .

We’ll have to wait for that one to arrive by snail mail. I can’t wait!

He plays the Devil in the 1943 version of Heaven Can Wait.

Though Laird looks the part in this photo (3rd on page) from the film Rings on Her Finger.

Will it be a gas, gas, gas, cranking out my little lovelies for all the fans of DarcyArts? Yes, it will.

I think I’ve got the hang of spreading my energies evenly over all the tasks at hand. It’s freedom of movement that comes from employing the carousel method of creation. I ride a different painted pony every few hours. I switch it up — sew, cut, stitch, stretch. When my eyes need to stretch their vision to a far horizon I’ll run an errand. Get myself to the health food store, JoAnn store for more stuffing, or check the thrift stores for the things on my list.

Then back to work. After the morning NPR programs are finished I’ll turn on the sweet trashy Bravo TV shows or HGTV as background noise. I look up occasionally to see whats going on but keep my eyes on the project at hand.

When I need a little outside energy I’ll have another cup of tea and play some good music to push me through — Josh Homme’s Queens of the Stone Age, some good old Rolling Stones, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Love, Robyn Hitchcock, Iggy Pop.

I’ve been slowed a bit by a virus my honey and I picked up last week. My immune system is doing its job of kicking its ass. I have not been really down with it. At first it felt like I was being invaded by a load of tiny aliens but I’ve been able to work plenty and sleep plenty.

I’m still up early, before the sun shines, Checking for orders, setting up my work for the day. I get my materials ready, have a glass of tea, and this week, eat way too much carrot cake.

Things are rolling along. I am so happy to be working at producing things that I dreamed up, so pleased that I finally managed to make something out of nothing. February 2, 2011 will be the second anniversary of quitting my day job.

I feel good about the things I do. I have an open mind. I’m learning all the time and I am making people happy.

I finished my third Mick Jagger doll all except for the scarf. I’m waiting to hear from the uncle who will give this Soft Boy to his 4-year-old niece. I want to make the scarf in her favorite color.

Mick is fun to do. His lips are time-consuming but it’s so worth it.

The 4 year old who will receive this doll loved the one her uncle had.

She said she knew she loved him because he had lipstick on.

That is glam.

This Mick has a hip belt of faux leather with a real leather lace.

I may make him sockies to match the scarf when I find out what color to use.

This Mick’s hair is pretty wild.

I gave him darker eyebrows, too.

I’m thinking on the next Mick I may use pasted on fleece eyebrows.

My little redheaded alterego wanted to have her picture taken with Mick 3 before he goes to New Jersey. I should definitely put this on Facebook.

Frank and I pigged out on Bravo’s The Real Housewives of DC yesterday. The episode where the Salahis crash the White House dinner and take pictures of themselves with D.C. stars as if they were posing with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy at Disneyland. So crazy. People whore-out for fame. Why? Who want’s attention when it can go so bad? Fame = Loss of Freedom. Boo.